Starts promising but gets miserable as the enemies become gimmickier and more aggressive. That stage 2 boss is the exact moment the game drops from a warm 8 to a frigid and soul-wrenching 4, but I still gotta give it credit for some kickass art and tunes. Irem in their mid-90's knew how to do it.

SNES version is maybe 70% as good, there's a chance it's more soberly designed but I didn't get far enough to tell. Limited continues definitely hurts it and I didn't have the energy to keep save-scumming.